Bottle carrier



H. Z. GRAY BOTTLE CARRIER Sept. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 4,1948 INVENTOR. Har Z. Gm

0 ttor'neys H. Z. GRAY BOTTLE CARRIER Sept. 14, 1954 Fi led Dec. 4, 19482 Sheets-Sheet 2 Y Y INVENTOR.

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Gttorngys Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED S TATES PATIENT OFFICE BOTTLECARRIE-R Harry Z. Gray, Lebanon, Qhio- Application December 4, 1348,Serial No. 63,589

12 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a carrier for bottles, particularly beveragebottles, the carrier being of the basket type wherein the main supportis provided on the underside of the bottles.

Inthe current distribution of bottled soft drinks it is customary toprovide carriers free of charge to the consumer. In view of the furtherfact that the carriers have a relatively short life, it has been ofprime importance to fabricate them using a minimum of material and ofmanufacturing operations while maintaining a mini mum permissiblestrength and reasonable durability. In my novel carrier such conditionsare met in a satisfactory manner employing a single sheet of cardboardfor the main body of the carrier and effecting the final form by meansof straight folds, cuts and score marks all in minimum degree andutilizing substantially all of the blank material.

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a bottle carrierwhich is economical both as to cost of material and the manufacturingsteps. It is a further object to provide a bottle carrier, the main bodyof which comprises a single sheet of material of simple geometric form,a more particular object being to provide such-a carrier in which littleor no material is scrapped in the manufacture. In still greaterparticular it is an object to provide a carrier folded from a singlesheet of material into a structure having upper and lower tiers, thebottle receiving openings in the upper tier being attaine'dineach caseby a simple slit.

These and other ends, which will be in part apparent'and in part mademanifest as the description proceeds, are attained by the invention,certain embodiments of which are described in the accompanyingspecification and illustrated in the drawings, in which:

Figure l is a front view of a carrier collapsed into flat condition, aspacked for shipping,

Figure 2 is an end view of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view in perspective of the carrier of Figure 1 opened intobasket form, with the bottle-receiving openings still closed,

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2,with the bottle-receivingopenings folded downwardly,

Figure 4a is a reduced view similar to Fig. 4 with double partitionsbeing utilized between bottleqeceiving openings, and

Figure 5 is a vie'win perspective of a modified form having twobottle-receiving openings, one

of which is' shown as closed and the other as folded downwarmy.

Referring tothe d rawings by characters of 2 reference there is shown,in Figures 1 to: 4, a double container formed from a single sheet ofmaterial being continuous from: one side to the other through the topfolded edge 1. Since the article is identical oneach side of the edge I,only one side need be described. Extending downwardly from the edge 11''isa continu'ous back wall 2 having struck tabs -3 fold'able aboutscored edges 4 and having any convenient form to receive the fingers ofa user for carrying the basket. The bottom edge of wall 2- is defined bya scored line 5 providing for the'outward fol'ding of a rectangularsection 6 constituting the bottom of the basket when extendedperpendicularly-to wall 2. A further scored line 1' parallel to line 5.constitutes the bottom edge of a front wal-l 8,'the top of whichisdefine'djby a series of aligned scored lines 9. The top portion of thebasket indicated generally at Iii, and presently to be described indetail, extends Iinwardlt from edge '9 to inner score'dedges H, and the:bulk of the balance: of the-sheet depends as at r2 from lines H alongback wait 2' to which it is glued or otherwise secured. It willbe. seenthat wall 2, bottom fi,

front wall 8 and the-top portion vIt: constitute 4a parallelogramlinkage in. which wall 2 may be considered as fixed and the other threesides swingabl'e from. a flat, collapsed condition to an open positionwhich viewed endwlse is rectangular'in form.

As shown, each side of the basket portionis adapted to accommodate threebottles. The central portion has, on. the front wall 8,-a pair ofdownwardly and inwardly directed scored lines t3. M. meeting at a pointwhere they form substantial-1y a right. angle. A-similar 139/1110!scored lines i5, it are provided the back flap 1?.

Athroug-h slit i1 is provided, extending; from the. juncture qof scored.lines 1-3, M; to the-juncture ,ofscored lines i5, it. Thestruoturerjust described defines a pair of sections l8, Hi in the topit, which are foldableabout the scoredlines i3, Itand [34, t6,respectively, ashinges asgseen in Figure 4, with the right anglesbehind'the scored lines 9 andv H beinggturnedinside out, thefront-triangular portionsifl, 2| folde'd-ontotthe inside of front wall3; therear triangular portions '22, 23' folded against the back flap=l 2and top sections T8, is extending downwardly and generally perpendicularto the front and rear walls. Als'o, scored sections li -and H are nowvertical. In the operation of turning sections I8 T9 downwar-d it ofconvenience'to provide scored lines 26, 21 medially thereof. Endsections 28, 29 are similar in form and function to sections l8, [9.However, in the three-bottle form shown the sections I8, l9 serveadequately as partitions, each between the central well and an end well.Therefore, it is possible to utilize tabs 30, 3| which would ordinarilyform part of top Iii, as reenforcing strips glued to the upper portionof back wall 2 in which position they appear as upward extensions ofdependent wall portion I2. The outer edges of tabs 30, 3| are formed inthe central slitting of the end wells similar to the slit ll of thecentral well, and the inner edges of the tabs are formed by slits alongthe outer edges of sections l8, IS.

The mode of employment of the carrier will be obvious. From a fiat,folded condition, the basket portions are swung to open position by anopening of the parallelograms 2, 6, 8, I0, which is instantly responsiveto an easy pressure of the thumb. Thereafter the three wells on one sideare opened by a downward pressure of the thumbs on end sections 28, 29followed by a similar operation on sections l8, IS, the entire operationbeing almost instantaneous.

In the form shown in Figure 5, which is adapted for carrying a pair ofthe larger size bottles, 24-ounce bottles for instance, the arrangementis generally similar and the various parts have been given similarreference characters to similar parts in the carrier of Figures 1 to 3,but qualified by prime marks. As shown in the drawing, the two-bottlecontainer provides a double partition in the center, but thismodification could also be constructed along the lines of either pair ofadjacent wells on a given side of the said other carrier. For example,in Fig. 4a, the tabs 30 and 3| are shown as a part of top [0, ready tobe pushed into downward position to form double partitions with sectionsl8 and 19, respectively. Also in the Figure carrier it has been foundconvenient to provide an upper shelf 32 having openings 33 to receivebottle necks. As shownthis comprises an upper section 34 glued to theback wall of the carrier but it could be constructed as a continuationof the.

back wall. The latter is scored at 35 at the hinge line 36 of the shelf32 to allow for slant of the carrier due to weight of the bottles. Alsothe two-bottle carrier could be duplicated on each side of the back wallas in the six-bottle carrier so as to accommodate four bottles.

While certain embodiments have been shown it will be understood that theinvention is not limited to the exact construction shown, and thatchanges in the size, shape and arrangement of the parts can be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a box structure for carrying articles, a continuous wall structurecomprising a rear wall, a bottom, a front wall, a top wall and adepending portion extending along and attached to the rear wall, a slitextending from a point in the front wall to and across the top wall andterminating at a point in the said depending portion, and a portion ofsaid top wall immediately adjacent said slit being attached to the rearwall and constituting an extension of said depending portion above thesaid top wall.

2. In a box structure for carrying articles, a rear wall, a bottom, afront, a top, and a portion depending from the rear edge of the top, andfixed, in part, to said rear wall, and a series of slits runningtransversely of the structure from a point in the front to the top,across the top and into said depending portion, said slits alternatingbetween a slit in a plane perpen-' dicular to the common edge of thefront and top,

, and a slit inclined to such plane.

3. A device as in claim 2, wherein at least two pairs of adjacent slitseach have common terminal points.

4. A device as in claim 2, wherein at least two pairs of adjacent slitseach have common terminal points, and a fifth, intermediate slit isspaced throughout its length from adjacent slits.

5. In a device as in claim 2, scored lines joining the extremities ofadjacent slits in the front and in the said depending portion.

6. In a device as in claim 2, scored lines joining the extremities ofadjacent slits, said scored lines being inclined at substantiallydegrees to the base.

7. In a device as in claim 2, scored lines joining the extremities of aplurality of said slits, and a plurality of top sections defined by saidslits being folded against said rear wall above the said top.

. 8. A device as in claim 2, said slits being five in number, scoredlines Joining the extremities of the central three slits, scored linesjoining the extremities of the outer two slits and the ends of thestructure, and sections of the top between apart the several constituentparts of the carrier, the carrier comprising, a pair of outer side wallpanels; a center partition consisting of two center panels hingedlyconnected along a top fold line; a bottom consisting of two separatebottom panels, each bottom panel being hingedly connected to an outerside wall panel and one center panel, respectively, along fold lines;and a cellular top structure dividing the space between the centerpartition and the outer side wall panels into individual articlereceiving cells,

said top structure comprising webs extending atsubstantially rightangles to the side wall panels and said partition, said webs beingintegral with said side walls and extending hingedly from said sidewalls along diagonal fold, lines, the end portions of the webs beingfolded back upon said side walls along said diagonal fold lines, saidtop structure including terminal webs lying at the ends of the structureand intermediate webs lying between the terminal webs, the terminal websbeing of single thick-, ness and the intermediate webs being of doublethickness, the two thicknesses being folded backto-back along a creaseline forming the ridge of the web, the bottom panels maintaining theside panels in a set position in which the webs are at right angles tothe side panels and to the bottom panels; a center partition consistingof two cen- I ter panels hingedly connected along atop fold line; abottom consisting of two separate bottom panels, each bottom panel beinghingedly connected to an outer side wall panel andone center panel,respectively, along fold lines; and a cellular top structure dividingthespace between the center partition and the outer side wall panels intoindividual article receiving cells, said top structure comprising websextending at substantially right angles to the side wall panels and saidpartition and connecting said side wall panels with said partition, eachweb having two end portions folded back upon the respective side wallpanel and the respective center panel about a diagonal fold line andoverlying the side wall panel and the center panel on the inside of thecells, said webs further including a central portion intermediate saidend portions extending substantially at right angles to said endportions from the side wall to the respective center panel, the bottompanels maintaining the side wall panels and the center panels in a setposition in which the Webs are at right angles to the side panels andsaid cells are squared.

12. A carrier for a plurality of bottles, cans,

or similar articles arranged in two rows, the carrier consisting of asingle blank of foldable sheet material creased along fold lines settingapart the several constituent parts of the carrier, the carriercomprising, a center wall consisting of two center panels foldedback-to-back about a top fold line; a pair of bottom panels hingedlyextending outwardly from the bottom of the center panel; a pair of outerside wall panels hingedly extending upwardly from the outer edges of thebottom panels respectively; and webbed top structures connecting theupper edges of said side wall panels with said center panels anddividing the spaces between the center panels and the outer side wallpanels into individual article receiving cells, each of said topstructures comprising webs extending at substantially right angles tothe side panels and the center panels, each web having two end portionsfolded back upon the respective side wall panel and the respectivecenter panel along diagonal fold lines to overlie the side wall paneland the center panel on the inside of the cells, said webs furtherincluding a central portion intermediate said end portions extendingsubstantially at right angles to said end portions from the side wall tothe respective center panel; the webs lying at the ends of the topstructure being of single thickness, and the webs intermediate the endwebs being of double thickness, the two thicknesses being foldedback-to-back along a crease line forming the ridge of the web.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,354,528 Lo'wey et al July 25, 1944 2,383,183 Fischer Aug.21, 1948 2,457,307 Hall et a1 Dec. 28, 1948

